Unfinished Gage County Road on One-And-Six-Year Road Plan

By Gordon HopkinsA number of residents of Gage County have been pushing for a three-mile section of a road south of Virginia to be paved. Several residents spoke at a hearing of the Gage County Supervisors to discuss the One-and-Six-Year Road Plan. That section of the road has remained unpaved for 50 years. In 1973, nine miles of a 12-mile section of 162nd Road was paved. A three-mile segment of the section connecting Virginia with Liberty, south of Highway 4, was scheduled to be paved but it was never completed.Tracy Zimmerman spoke at the hearing.“We are working to do our part. We're actively pursuing some grants,” said Zimmerman. “We just ask, respectfully ask, that you guys do your part, too. We know that we're going to need to raise funds for this.” Residents living in that area have attended multiple meetings of the county supervisors, urging that the remaining portion of the road be completed. Safety was the primary reason given at recent meetings, although some have also complained that the poor condition of the road has lead to damaged vehicles.Zimmerman said, “We've talked about the rock. I actually had to go get a bid on my car. It was $2,800 to fix the rock chips on my car from the last incident that I had on the road.”“I respectfully ask for you to approve the one and six,” said Zimmerman. “I just think it should be made a priority.” The Virginia Village Board held a meeting March 13 and a representative of the Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD) attended to discuss possible funding opportunities. According to Rick Clabaugh, six different options were presented at the meeting, “Right at the top was a grant that would require the village to be 84 people, and I think the village is probably at 74 to 75 people.”Despite this, the board is still considering the grant and is hoping to increase the population. Clabaugh said, “We're kind of going the angle right now that we need more population in Virginia in order to get some of these grants and revolving loans.”Gage County Supervisors unanimously approved the One-and-Six-Year Road Plan, which includes paving the unpaved three-mile segment of 162nd Road.

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